My Childhood Friend’s Stock Will Never Fail Chapter 43

“No, I was careless. I should have been more mindful of how much I’d drunk. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

 

Rather than getting upset, Joohoon apologized instead and reassured Yoohee.

 

“Ah, right. It’s already getting late… What do you want to do? You can stay here for the night if you’re okay with it, but if you’re uncomfortable, I’ll take you back to the dorm.”

 

Just a little while ago, he had been somewhat forceful, saying that he didn’t want her to leave, but now his tone had softened considerably as he asked what she wanted.

 

‘Was that… just the system overheating for a moment?’

 

Since no error message had appeared, it seemed like it wasn’t anything serious.

 

“I’ll go back to the dorm. My roommate will worry if I don’t come back.”

 

Jinhee was there too, but more importantly, there was ppyak-i, who needed to be fed breakfast.

 

As she gathered her uniform and belongings, which she had stuffed into a plastic bag, Yoohee suddenly remembered that she had left her phone in the bathroom.

 

“Ah, wait a second. My phone’s in the bathroom.”

 

In the quiet room, the ticking of the clock’s second hand sounded unusually loud.

 

She opened the bathroom door and went to retrieve her phone.

 

[Congratulations! You have completed the Third Main Scenario!]

 

A status window popped up with a cheerful flourish.

 

Yoohee looked up at the clock and realized that it was already past midnight.

 

[As a reward, you receive sponsorship from the Constellations ‘Darkness’ Archmage’ and ‘Mala-Flavored Churu’!]

[‘Special Status Abnormality Recovery Potion’ and ‘Lukewarm Health Potion’ have been stored in your inventory.]

 

‘It’s finally over.’

 

At first, she wondered if the rewards were actually pretty decent, but when she remembered the penalty for failure, she once again felt that the whole thing was unfair.

 

‘The penalty for failure was a lifetime of being single, wasn’t it?’

 

[Ahem! By the way, Twenty-Ninth Possessor, are you enjoying the full bloom of spring?]

 

Even though the rewards had already been given, the status window continued talking to her for some reason.

 

[As we approach the end of May, I’m feeling sad to see it go, so how about we hold one last event to celebrate the final days of spring?]

[What kind of month is May? The Month of Family, of course—and therefore, the Month of Love! And so, we will be holding a Favorability Burning Event!]

 

After answering its own question, the status window suddenly declared a May event.

 

[Since this event has been prepared for the smooth continuation of your possession life, we expect your satisfaction to be extremely high!]

 

The previous White Day event had actually been quite rewarding.

 

A creature had suddenly appeared, but since it had been created specifically for the event, it was weak enough that it hadn’t caused any major problems. On top of that, it spat out candies that increased favorability, and she had even been able to raise her stats considerably through the sub-scenario.

 

If this event was anything like that one, it could be quite beneficial for Yoohee.

 

[Then let me explain the event rules right away! The rules are simple. Enter a randomly assigned event gate and clear it within the time limit!]

 

‘A randomly assigned event gate?’

 

The library had become an event dungeon last time, but this time, Yoohee wondered if the Possessor would be sent somewhere else entirely.

 

[Since it’s random, we don’t know what kind of creature will be inside, but in any case, all you have to do is find and defeat the boss creature! The time limit is six hours! Upon success, you will receive +20 Favorability with the male lead candidate of your choice.]

 

A whopping +20 Favorability upon success.

 

Yoohee’s eyes widened at the number.

 

She didn’t know Joohoon’s exact favorability score, but if she gained +20, wouldn’t that bring her almost all the way to the Childhood Friend Ending?

 

[Oh, and this gate is basically no different from a real gate, so make sure you’re mentally prepared!]

[Then, I wish you the best of luck!]

 

As the status window gave its final farewell, Yoohee’s vision began to shake.

 

Her body felt as though it were being turned inside out, just like when she teleported.

 

She squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them again—

 

“Haa…”

 

A puff of pure white breath escaped her lips.

 

‘My breath?’

 

Joohoon’s comfortable room had vanished without a trace, replaced by a vast, snow-covered wilderness she had never seen before.

 

‘So this is how I get dumped straight into some shitty gate.’

 

At this point, she wasn’t even surprised anymore.

 

“This… what happened?”

 

However, Joohoon, who had been sucked into the gate along with her, couldn’t hide his astonishment as he stared at the white snow before him.

 

“Did the academy’s warp malfunction?”

 

“First, let’s find somewhere we can get out of the snow.”

 

The entire area was covered in snow, and sleet whipped through the air whenever the wind blew. If they stayed out in the open like this, their bodies would quickly lose heat.

 

Joohoon took off the cardigan he was wearing and draped it around Yoohee before taking her hand, which had already grown cold.

 

“You must be freezing.”

 

“No, you’re cold too.”

 

Joohoon must have been cold too. Yoohee tried to give the cardigan back, but Joohoon stopped her.

 

“I’m fine. I’m not very sensitive to the cold.”

 

Only then did Yoohee understand what Joohoon meant. Joohoon’s magical attribute was ice, after all.

Whenever she touched Joohoon, he had always felt colder than other people, and it seemed that his attribute made him more resistant to the cold.

 

“Thank you.”

“Let’s head toward the forest.”

 

Thankfully, she didn’t feel nauseous like she had when they actually warped.
As the rhythmic sound of snow crunching under their feet continued beside her ears, Joohoon suddenly grabbed Yoohee’s hand and yanked her toward him.

 

Whoosh-!

 

At the same time, an arrow shot past Yoohee at lightning speed.
It was a chilling moment. If Joohoon hadn’t noticed it beforehand, she didn’t even want to imagine what might have happened.

 

“What was that just—”

“Stay behind me, Yoohee.”

 

Joohoon pulled Yoohee behind him as if to shield her.

 

Whooshhhh-

 

After a fierce snowstorm swept through, a figure emerged at the entrance of the forest.

 

‘A person?’

 

No, it was slightly different.

It was over three meters tall, with skin so pale it was almost white. Most striking of all were its enormous ears, which protruded sharply unlike a human’s.

 

‘An elf…?’

 

The moment she realized what it was, Yoohee’s body stiffened.

 

‘Don’t tell me this gate is….’

 

Most creatures had animal-like forms.

No matter how strong they were, they were ultimately low-level creatures whose intelligence was several steps below that of humans.

 

However, there were also higher-level creatures that resembled humans.

High-level creatures possessed intelligence comparable to humans and sometimes even used their own languages. Elves were one such species.

 

They were top-tier creatures that even an S-rank Esper could not guarantee victory against upon encountering.

 

‘…….’

 

Yoohee’s eyes darted rapidly.

 

Judging by the presence of an elf, this gate was S+ rank in difficulty. And judging by the endless snowfield, its scale was also that of a high-level gate.

 

‘What the hell…… is this?’

 

This place was practically hell.

 

***

 

What were the odds of Joohoon, an A-rank Esper, defeating an elf?

 

People said you wouldn’t know until you actually fought one, but this was the worst possible situation, with the outcome all too obvious.

 

“Joohoon, I think we should change direction and head into the forest.”

 

They had to shake off the elf somehow. Joohoon nodded as well.

 

“Hold on tight.”

 

Joohoon grabbed Yoohee around the waist with one hand and lifted her up. It was as easy as picking up a lightweight sack.

 

Wait, are we really going like this?

 

Whoosh-!

 

As her hair fluttered through the air, an arrow shot past her at high speed, grazing her from the side.

 

“Don’t let go!”

 

Even while fleeing, two or three more arrows grazed Yoohee’s flying hair. Each time, it felt as though she had crossed the threshold into the afterlife, only to barely make it back.

 

Eventually, Joohoon came to a stop and lowered Yoohee to the ground.

 

“They won’t be able to chase us easily this far.”

 

After being suspended in the air for so long, Yoohee’s body swayed for a moment, and Joohoon quickly caught her by the arm.

 

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, yeah. Th-that’s a relief.”

 

Yoohee forced the corners of her mouth upward while calming her trembling legs, and Joohoon looked relieved as he glanced around.

 

“Should we rest here for a moment? It looks like we can block most of the snow.”

 

A large tree was shielding them from the sleet. The wind was also weaker here, so it seemed considerably less cold.

 

After brushing the accumulated snow off a suitable rock, they sat down and caught their breath for a while.

 

‘So we have to kill the boss creature within six hours.’

 

Her legs began trembling on their own.

 

‘This is nerve-racking…… Can it get any more nerve-racking?’

 

She had expected the difficulty to be similar to the White Day event, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.

 

During class, she had once learned that elves usually lived in groups while protecting a gigantic World Tree. She had also heard that gates containing elves could only disappear after the ‘source of power’ dwelling within the World Tree was eliminated.

 

Which meant there was no way to reach the World Tree without defeating the elves standing in their way.